RPT-BHP has six bidders looking at Nickel West unit - report

PERTH, July 6 (Reuters) - Six potential bidders, including
Dutch commodity trader Trafigura and Hong
Kong-listed MMG Ltd, are looking at the books of BHP
Billiton's Australian nickel unit, the
Australian Financial Review reported on Sunday, without saying
where it got the information.

X2 Resources, a private company run by former Xstrata chief
executive Mick Davis, Canadian nickel miner Sherritt
International Corp, Glencore Plc and Chinese
nickel refining company Jinchuan Group are also doing
due diligence on Nickel West, which could be worth as much as
A$800 million ($749 million), the newspaper said.

Spokespeople for X2 Resources, Sherritt International, MMG
and Jinchuan could not be reached for comment.

BHP said in May it was reviewing the future, including the
potential sale of all or some of its West Australian nickel
assets, which include the Mt Keith, Cliffs and Leinster mines,
the Kalgoorlie smelter, Kambalda concentrator and the Kwinana
refinery.

Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie told reporters last month
the company was still looking to simplify its portfolio by
selling some assets and named Nickel West as one.

The company has grouped Nickel West with two other unwanted
businesses, aluminium and manganese, and flagged earlier this
year that one option would be to spin off all three into a
separate company.
(Reporting by Morag MacKinnon; Editing by Mark Potter)